This blog is written by a journalist based in Mumbai who writes about cities, the environment, developmental issues, the media, women and many other subjects.The title 'ulti khopdi' is a Hindi phrase referring to someone who likes to look at things from the other side.

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Girls just want some space

The Hindu, Sunday Magazine,November 8, 2015

With her shock of flaming red hair, you cannot miss Mona Eltahawy. This
gutsy young Egyptian journalist, author and feminist, was by far the
most striking presence at the recent Tata Literature Live in Mumbai. But
more than her appearance, it’s what she said that struck a chord.

As a journalist and an activist demanding democracy and freedom, Mona
was one of the thousands who flocked to Cairo’s Tahrir Square in 2011 in
what came to be known as the Arab Spring. But the promise of freedom
was never realised. Worse, as Mona said, “During the revolution in
Egypt, men and women came and fought together. But once it was over,
women went back to being oppressed.”

Mona was one of several women at the receiving end of physical and
sexual assault at the hands of the police. But what disappointed her
more was the attitude of some of the men who were also part of the
uprising. “We had the Mubarak in the Presidential Palace and the Mubarak
on the street. But at the end of the day, we were left with the Mubarak
in the bedroom.” She called this “the trifecta of misogyny”.

Mona Eltawahy’s realisation that public spaces, including those
considered “sacred”, were not safe for women began when at 15 she was
groped in Mecca while on the Haj with her family. What began then has
now become her passion as she speaks and writes about women’s rights.
She has been pilloried, threatened and trolled on Twitter and social
media for her views, especially after her book Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution was published.

Mona’s take on women’s right to the public space is shared by women
everywhere, especially in our part of the world. Women access public
spaces in groups, or as part of families. But the right to just be; to
enjoy a public space without being asked questions or harassed; to walk,
to read, to lie on a bench or a beach; to just stare into nothingness;
to hang about without any ostensible purpose — something that men do all
the time — is denied to the majority of women. Why?

That is the question that some young women in India are beginning to
ask. Their numbers are small, a drop in the ocean. But just as it took
only three writers — Nayantara Sahgal, Uday Prakash and Ashok Vajpeyi —
to trigger a virtual deluge of protests against the climate of
intolerance, perhaps even these small initiatives will find a wider
resonance.

It began in 2011 when Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade published their book Why Loiter?
In it they reported on studies on how women use public spaces. They
noted, for instance, that most women would feel the need to access a
public space only if they had a specific purpose — to go from home to
school, or office, or to a shop. Seldom, if ever, did women think they
had the right to just be there, to do nothing, to just hang around.

If women through the ages have felt angered at such restrictions, the
majority have accepted them and perhaps even bought into the argument
that ultimately it is “for their own good”. Young women are lectured
about this all the time. Be back at such and such time, “for your own
good”. Don’t go out after dark, “for your own good”. Don’t go out alone,
“for your own good”.

Why Loiter? seems to have triggered off a form of rebellion among a
small number of young, urban women. In Mumbai, some of them do organised
“loitering”. They step out in groups after dark, go to places where
women are rarely seen, drink chai or eat street food and just
enjoy doing what young men do without any hesitation. Their experiences
have been fascinating. They are sometimes stopped by the police and
asked to go home. They are the objects of hostile stares from men. But
these women will not give up.

Interestingly, the Indian campaign has found an echo across the border.
So in Karachi and Lahore, #GirlsAtDhabas campaign has groups of young
women eating and drinking at roadside dhabas where you see only men. Even more fun is the birth of women’s gully cricket in Karachi, where they play cricket on the street.

The latest is the ‘Pinjra Tod’ campaign in Delhi. Women students have
protested against unreasonable hostel rules, where they are expected to
return by 7 p.m. and be locked up after that. If in all other respects
they are considered adults, why do colleges feel the need to keep their
women students literally in a prison, they ask?

These questions are not irrelevant. They have to be addressed by
parents, by teachers, by those who plan and run our cities. Many parents
might see these campaigns as unreasonable, even dangerous. But in the
long run, a society that literally incarcerates women because public
spaces are not safe will become one where no one will feel safe.

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My profile

Journalist, columnist, writer based in Mumbai. Author of "Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia's largest slum" (Penguin, 2000). Worked with The Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express and Himmat Weekly.
Other books include "Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues" edited with Ammu Joseph (published by Sage 1994/2006), "Terror Counter-Terror: Women Speak Out" edited with Ammu Joesph (published by Kali for Women, 2003) and "Missing: Half the Story, Journalism as if Gender Matters" (published by Zubaan, 2010).
Regular columns in The Hindu, Sunday Magazine and on The Hoot (www.thehoot.org).